Your portrayal elevated Satya: RGV’s letter of appreciation for Manoj Bajpayee

Director-producer Ram Gopal Varma on Friday penned a letter of appreciation for his Satya actor, the National Award-winning Manoj Bajpayee. Varma praised Bajpayee’s portrayal in a lengthy note shared on X and lauded his magnetic portrayal.

“Hey @BajpayeeManoj, after seeing SATYA after so many years I discovered so many new things .. You didn’t just play Bhiku — you became him and breathed life into a role that redefined the way one viewed cinematic characters at that time . Ur raw and magnetic portrayal elevated Satya to a high above place from just being a gritty gangster film. Bhiku Mhatre is a strange blend of raw courage humour, loyalty, and all this mixed with a heavy dose of unpredictability. From the moment you appeared on screen, you dominated your every frame with your fiery presence as a man who could make us laugh at one moment and leave us stunned the next (sic),” read a section of the post.

The director commended the actor’s ability to be “emotionally naked in front of the camera” and stated, “The unpredictability you infused into the character made every scene with Bhiku an event by itself. The greatest challenge for an actor is to get emotionally naked in front of the camera and that’s what u achieved in SATYA.”

Also starring Shefali Shah, Paresh Rawal, Urmila Matondkar and JD Chakravarthy among others, Satya released in cinemas on July 3, 1998.